2. • When we refer to something as "subjective" we mean that it pertains to
the individual (the reader). A subjective reading of a text is one in which
emphasis is placed on the attitudes, moods, and opinions of the reader.
• When we refer to something as "objective" we mean that it pertains to an
object (the text) separate from the individual (the reader). An objective
reading of a text is one that is uninfluenced by emotions or personal
prejudices.
• Reader-Response criticism offers a subjective, or egocentric, reading of a
text. Egocentrism refers to anything that regards the self of the individual
as the center of all things.
SUBJECTIVE VS. OBJECTIVE
3. What is Reader-Response Critism?
• RR critics believe that a reader's interaction with the text gives the text its
meaning. The text cannot exist without the reader.
• If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a
noise? If a text sits on a shelf in a bookstore and no one is around to read it,
does the text have meaning?
• RR criticism is NOT a free-for-all school of thought where anything goes. RR
criticism is still a disciplined theory deserving of a careful reading of the text.
• RR critics are focused on finding meaning in the act of reading itself and
examining the ways individual readers or communities of readers experience
texts.
• The reader joins with the author to "help the text mean."
4. What is Reader-Response Critism?
• A successful reader-response critic does not just respond to a
text-anyone can do that- but analyzes his or her response, or the
responses of others. Our life experiences and the communities
we belong to greatly influence our reading of a text Because each
reader will interact with the text differently, the text may have
more than one valid interpretation.
5. What is the purpose of readers response critism?
• A successful reader-response critic does not just respond to a
text-anyone can do that- but analyzes his or her response, or the
responses of others. Our life experiences and the communities
we belong to greatly influence our reading of a text Because each
reader will interact with the text differently, the text may have
more than one valid interpretation.
